Charges dropped against wrongly accused Minnesota church protester

A federal judge on Monday agreed to dismiss the criminal charges against a 50-year-old woman accused of disrupting a church worship service in St. Paul, Minn., by taking part in an anti-ICE protest. Prosecutors indicted over 30 individuals, including Heather Danae Lewis, for allegedly attacking Cities Church with a mid-service protest in January.

The Department of Justice filed an unopposed motion on Friday to dismiss Lewis’ charges with prejudice, meaning the charges may not be refiled in the future. U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino did not include an opinion when granting the motion, but did note that both sides were in agreement on the dismissal.

Why were the charges dismissed? The DOJ’s indictment listed Lewis among the group of protesters who met at a shopping center to strategize before launching the protest. However, Lewis’ attorney, Brock Hunter, told The New York Times that his client was a victim of mistaken identity. Lewis was at that shopping center the morning of the protest on separate business, he said. The woman was lumped in with protesters because of her cellphone location data and her resemblance to a protester appearing in the videos, he said.

WORLD reached out to Hunter’s office for comment. WORLD also reached out to the DOJ for comment. This story will be updated with any responses received.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report for more about the 30 accused protesters charged by the DOJ.